


Purpose

by Zdenka



Category: Chushingura | 47 Ronin
Genre: Dubious Consent, M/M, Non-Explicit, Samurai, seppuku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-26
Updated: 2010-12-26
Packaged: 2017-10-14 03:12:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/144719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zdenka/pseuds/Zdenka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oishi has always served his Lord. There was no other way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Purpose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mithen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mithen/gifts).



> Written as a Yuletide treat.
> 
> I based this story on the version found in the puppet play _Kanadehon Chuushingura_ (see the notes at the end for a full citation). I have used the historical versions of their names for Lord Asano and Oishi Kuranosuke, but the names of Lady Kaoyo and the treacherous retainer Kudayuu are taken from the puppet play. I hope this does not cause any confusion.
> 
> Thanks to Wasuremono and mikeneko for beta-reading.

The sound of Lady Kaoyo’s weeping fills the room. As Oishi stands apart, the memories come to him in fragments, painful like shards of a broken sword. Oishi has always served his Lord. There was no other way.

That first night in his Lord’s chambers. His Lord kept him late, as had recently become his habit. He questioned Oishi on the strength and arrangement of the castle garrison. Oishi gave the requested report, until his Lord stopped him with an upraised hand. “That was not what I wished to ask.”

Oishi looked at his Lord attentively and waited.

“Kuranosuke, I--” His Lord licked his lips. Oishi had never before seen him hesitant.

“What is it, my Lord?”

His Lord reached out to touch Oishi’s sleeve, and for a moment his hand trembled. His eyes sought Oishi’s face as he spoke in a soft voice, more question than command. “Kuranosuke. Stay with me tonight.”

It took a moment for Oishi to realize what his Lord wanted, but he would sooner have cut off his own hand than refused. He bowed, lower than usual, to signify his submission to all aspects of his Lord’s will. “Yes, my Lord.”

His Lord looked faintly troubled. “That was not an order, Kuranosuke.”

“My Lord,” Oishi said, putting forth all the sincerity of which he was capable in his voice and eyes so that his Lord might see his truth. “I am your man. In heart and body.” He saw his Lord’s eyes widen and heard his intake of breath.

From that point on, his Lord had what he wished for, and Oishi had his wish also, which was to fulfill his Lord’s desire to the utmost.

  


Lacking regard for the noble dead, the Shogun’s representative -- their Lord's enemy -- speaks sneering words. Oishi longs to cut him down where he stands, but to do so would bring shame to his Lord.

A samurai must allow nothing to distract him or cause his mind to waver. Whenever Oishi left his Lord’s chambers, he locked away the joy and laughter of those hours as in a sealed chest. His bearing must give no sign of anything other than loyalty and respectful obedience. His Lord was less restrained, but if he sometimes looked at Oishi with affection when others were present, it was not unlike him to show kindness to loyal retainers. A samurai guarded his master’s honor as well as his person, and Oishi stayed alert for rumors that might harm his Lord’s reputation. But if any others knew or suspected, they did not speak of it in his hearing.

  


The retainers kneel around in stunned silence. They have served as samurai all their lives, prepared for death at any moment. Yet somehow they were not prepared for this. Without a Lord to serve, they are nothing.

Once his Lord wedded Lady Kaoyo, he no longer summoned Oishi to his bed. They still spoke together for long hours of the night, of all things and none, or sat together in a silence that needed no words. Oishi did not allow himself to dwell on the way his Lord’s eyes lit up when they were alone together.

After the death of Oishi’s father, his Lord wished Oishi to step into his father’s place as chief retainer. Oishi refused, not wanting his Lord’s honor to be stained with accusations of favoritism. To his surprise, Lady Kaoyo sought him out. She spoke with a dignified yet modest bearing.

“Sir Oishi. I have heard that you refused Lord Asano’s request to become his chief retainer. I know it is bold of me to interfere in such a matter, but may I inquire as to the reason?”

Oishi bowed. “Please forgive me, my Lady. I declined the position because I am not worthy of such an honor.”

“Sir Oishi, you speak as if it is humility that guides your actions, but truly it is pride. You wish to be seen to serve Lord Asano without reward. And yet, do you truly serve him by acting in such a way? Lord Asano needs you by his side. Please reconsider.”

Oishi considered her words, then bowed his head. “You are right, my Lady. I will do as my Lord wishes.”

  


 _Ronin_. His Lord’s enemy is the first to speak the word, but Kudayuu echoes it -- unworthy to be a samurai, unworthy of the Lord they both have served so long. At its root, the word ronin means “wave man.” A retainer without a Lord is truly cast adrift upon the waves. A man must have a purpose, or he will drown.

The great calamity came upon them while Oishi was still travelling back from his Lord’s province. Once he had grasped the meaning of the messenger’s broken stammering, he did not wait for him to finish before calling for his horse. At any other time Oishi would have been mortified by his own discourtesy, but now it was nothing to him.

He killed three horses on the way in his haste to return to his Lord’s side. The hoofbeats thundered in his ears, and his anguish was too great for clear thought. He knew only that he had to see his Lord’s face one more time, to give him what comfort his presence could provide in the moment of death.

He arrived barely in time, his Lord’s blood already spilling from his honorable wound. His Lord looked up and greeted him by name, but his eyes said more. “Kuranosuke. I waited for you as long as I could.” Both reproach and apology. Oishi fell to his knees, speaking words he could not later remember. “I am pleased,” his Lord said. That was all; but Oishi could see the renewed brightness in his Lord’s eyes that had been clouded with pain and sorrow.

Oishi contained himself and said what was necessary. As Lord and retainer should, they exchanged brief words of noble death and vengeance. His Lord’s resolution did not waver, even in the last moments. Oishi, who would have shed every drop of his blood a thousand times over to prevent this, had to watch his Lord’s precious blood being shed by his Lord’s own hand.

  


With tears in her eyes, Lady Kaoyo laments that she could not speak to her husband freely in the presence of the Shogun’s representative. She had done well to restrain her tears in her husband's final moments, so as not to trouble his spirit. Oishi must be Lady Kaoyo’s shield and support now. There was no one else. It was for women to weep, and for men to act. Yet as he clutched the hilt of the blood-stained dagger, his Lord’s final gift to him, Oishi felt hot tears slide down his cheeks. My Lord, he vowed silently, I will avenge you.

**Author's Note:**

> “Kuranosuke. I waited for you as long as I could.”/ “I am pleased.” Lines from Chuushingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers): A Puppet Play by Takeda Izumo, Miyoshi Shouraku, and Namiki Senryuu, translated by Donald Keene. The line in the puppet play begins with “Yuranosuke,” the character’s name in that version.


End file.
